Serendipity
by FlyAwayDreamCatcher
Summary: Hazel faces a decision. The boy she has so foolishly fallen in love with, or her family, friends and the life she has always known? Albus faces a decision. Let go of the girl he has stupidly let himself fall for, or watch her get tortured and murdered? And to think, it all started because she couldn't perform a Vanishing Charm.
1. Stupidity

**A.N. HAPPY 2013!**

**Okay, I know I've been inactive for quite a while (*snorts derisively* a ****_while..._****) and the only reason for this is the fact that I am very lazy. I have these sort of 'phases' were I either really want to write a certain story, or I get bored of said story, so I don't want to write it. So, at the moment, I don't feel like writing FfY at ****_all._**** This will most likely change soon. But I have so many plot bunnies bouncing around my noggin, that I really want to get some down on paper (or computer, whatever). But people can have more than one story running at a time, right? So, having more stories to work on will probably help me churn more chapters out :D.**

**My prompts collection is also helpful for bridging inactive periods.**

**I seem to have an awful tendency to write REALLY LONG A.N.'s. Whoops. **

**ANYWAY, I shall put ANOTHER (I know what you're thinking: '****_another one? Oh god' _****but hear me out) A.N. at the bottom! But actually about THIS story! What a stellar idea!**

**Enjoy this most likely awful chapter and story idea!**

* * *

_**Serendipity**_

* * *

_**PART ONE**_

**THE START**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Stupidity**

* * *

_'A poor ability to understand or to profit from experience'_

* * *

Al was an idiot. He knew this. Rose told him several times a day. But never (in his humble opinion) had he made such an idiotic mistake as this.

He fancied Hazel Day.

As in the Slytherin Princess, Hazel Day.

Albus Severus Potter, star Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, fancied Hazel Day, the snarky, rude, most sought after girl in Slytherin.

He wasn't definite, but he was pretty sure he first realised this about ten minutes ago. Currently, he was sitting in History of Magic, with Rose and Scorpius, staring into space as he pondered this epiphany. (He was dimly aware of the dull drone of Professor Binns's voice in the background – Rose seemed to be the only one paying attention; however she was not aware of Scorpius doodling a Blast-Ended Skrewt on the corner of her parchment.)

_Albus had bumped into her on his way to Binns's class – quite literally. He had passed her in the corridor, not really paying attention to where he was going, as he was deep in conversation with Scorpius and Rose, discussing Quidditch tactics – a topic which all of them considered vastly important, Rose being Keeper and Scorpius being a Beater – when his shoulder collided with a rather solid object. This solid object turned out to be the arm of one Miss Hazel Day._

_Her bag had fallen to the floor, books, ink bottles, her pencil case and sheets of parchment scattering in all directions. Albus, Scorpius and Rose had stopped abruptly. The first thought that had occurred to Al was that she really ought to have a bag that closed better. Hazel had rounded on Al, her crystal blue eyes smouldering. Al, however, had barely noticed. He had suddenly realised how beautiful Hazel Day's eyes actually were, a pure, unblemished, rich tone of sharp blue._

_"You idiot!" She had hissed at him, slightly reminiscent of an angry cat. She had then started to collect her strewn possessions. Albus had been struck dumb. He couldn't help but observe how her deep, carmine red curls shimmered in the light. How had he not noticed it before? At another glare from Hazel Day, and a pointed poke in the ribs from Rose, Al had broken from his reverie and bent down to help Hazel Day gather her belongings._

_But as he had picked up one of her books (_Ancient Runes in Society and History_) Hazel Day had snatched it off him and hissed again._

_"I don't _need_ help. Go _away_." _

_Albus had frowned, feeling an odd stab in his chest. "Fine," he had murmured. Hazel Day had glowered at him once more, causing the stab to move to Al's diaphragm, shoved the last piece of parchment back into her bag and stalked off, flipping her mesmerising hair over her shoulder as she did so._

Okay, Al admitted to himself, so he didn't so much _fancy_ her. More like he was _besotted _with her. This was incredibly stupid, he told himself sternly, as 1) he hadn't even talked to her (well, _she _had talked to _him_, but not the other way around) and 2) _she was the bloody Slytherin Princess!_

This name had been given to Hazel Day by the Gryffindors of her year, as she was snobbish, self-centred and rude to any non-Slytherins – although she seemed to tolerate a few Ravenclaws. The nick-name had stuck.

Albus was also unaware of whether or not she had a boyfriend.

He suspected so.

Unfortunately, as much he tried to, Al just could not get Hazel Day out of his head.

* * *

Albus Potter was an idiot. Hazel knew this. She had witnessed his idiocy in action several times. One such incident had occurred that day, around ten minutes previously. Currently, Hazel was flourishing her wand at a teapot, which she was meant to be vanishing. At the moment, she had only managed to vanish her pot's body; she was left with a floating lid and handle. She'd never been very good at Transfiguration.

Her friend, Jack Cunnings, elbowed her sharply, causing her partly-invisible teapot to reappear. She turned to him, annoyed.

"What?"

He smirked mischievously at her, "you're thinking pretty deeply about something, Hazel. Care to share?"

She scowled. "It's really none of your business."

He shrugged noncommittally. "Just offering, Day. Jeez."

Hazel frowned and snorted derisively, turning back to her pitiful-looking teapot (if it's possible for a teapot to look pitiful). She slouched forward, causing her hair to fall in a curtain between herself and Jack. The git. He should mind his own bloody business.

Hazel's mind wandered back to Potter as she poked her pot forlornly. Why, she wondered irritatedly, couldn't she think of anyone else? Anything else! It was ridiculous, she conceded, that she was obsessing over how stupid Potter was. Absolutely ridiculous.

Besides, she had a boyfriend! Dale Greengrass was handsome and well-bred. Her mother adored him - possibly _only _because of the previously mentioned factors - and her father grudgingly accepted him. What more could she hope for? Yes, she was only fifteen, but her mother said Dale would make a suitable husband and son-in-law.

Hazel stopped her train of thought here. Before she had come to Hogwarts, she hadn't realised just how much she was like a Pureblood, when she was actually a half-blood. It was all her mother, Hazel knew, she was as pure-blood as you could get in her attitude. This in mind, Hazel was baffled to how Juliet Roiser had ever married her half-blood father, Benjamin Day. Her dad was more Wizard than some half-bloods though. Her grandmother had been half-blood, as well as her grandfather. And the reason they were half-blood was because of Muggle-born parentage, not Muggle.

But, despite her half-blood heritage, Hazel acted very much like a pure-blood. She supposed this was due to her raising; her mother was responsible for her education and her own higher-class prejudice had affected Hazel's. Although, Hazel felt her perspective was more subdued. _Mudblood _was such an ugly word. Her mother rarely used it, but Hazel knew it had passed between her lips.

Still, Hazel disliked Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs were... well... Hufflepuffs. **(A.N. does this read awkwardly? I think it does)**. Ravenclaws were okay, but some of them Hazel disliked. She was brought-up to be the perfect, well-mannered, well-tempered, beautiful lady that well-off, well-bred, pompous prats could swoon over.

And she was sick of it, to be perfectly honest.

Potter was half-blood too... _Arrrggg_! There, again! Why, _why_, couldn't she get him out of her head?

Another painful jab from Jack snapped Hazel from her thinking. Around her, everyone was packing their things, Professor Fanton was saying in her heavy Welsh brogue something that took a second for Hazel to decipher.

"Homework: perfect the Vanishing Charm. I don't expect to be able to see a single one of your teapots on Wednesday. Class dismissed."

_Oh bugger. Well, that wasn't going to happen._

Worriedly, Hazel hurried towards Professor Fanton. Just because she was tired of being snobbish and ladylike didn't mean she was going to slack off school work.

"Um, Professor, excuse me." She asked tentatively.

Fanton swept her green eyes over Hazel, her face remaining neutral. Her inky brown hair was pulled into a loose knot on the back other head, several ringlets framing her dark face. Hazel disliked Professor Fanton's eyes. They were a very pale green, more grey than green, really. Like a whitewashed cabbage. Not like Potter's eyes... Wait, _what?_

"Yes, Miss Day?"

_Huh? Oh, homework_.

"Um, Professor, I'm afraid I can't complete the homework."

_That's it, Haze, be polite._

Fanton frowned.

"Oh, why not, Miss Day?"

Hazel paused. What excuse _could _she use? She rocked onto the balls of her feet.

_Just tell her the truth._

"Errr... I'm really not very good at Transfiguration, Professor. Awful, actually. All I succeeded in doing today was making my pot's body disappear. "

Professor Fanton's eyebrows drew together.

"I'm sorry Miss Day, but this spell is essential in your O.W.L.s. You must be able to perform it perfectly to get a good mark in Tranfiguration, you may still pass, but only with an 'A'. Perhaps an 'E' if you do well in every other spell, but definitely not an 'O', which is what I assume you are aiming for?"

Hazel nodded, "yes, Professor Fanton, I do harbour the hope to do particularly well in my O.W.L.s."

At that moment, the classroom door opened, and who should enter, but Albus Bloody Potter. He dawdled at the door, hand still on the doorknob.

Hazel scowled.

"Um, Professor? I have that essay you wanted." He rifled through his bag, producing a roll of parchment, and held it out, walking hesitantly towards them. What was wrong with him?

"That you, Mr Potter." Fanton said, smiling. Potter turned to go, but Fanton called him back. "Mr Potter?" He turned around.

"Yes?"

"Miss Day here is having trouble mastering the Vanishing Charm, you perfected it last lesson, did you not?"

_Where was this going?_

Potter frowned. "Err, yeah. Yesterday."

Fanton beamed. "Excellent. Then you wouldn't mind tutoring Miss Day."

_What? _Hazel thought, aghast. _How did that crazy Professor think that would go? A Slytherin and a Gryffindor, working together? Don't make me laugh. I am _NOT _working with Potter. Never._

Potter looked taken aback. "Errr... well... you see..."

Fanton interrupted. "Excellent! I'll expect to _not _see your teapot on Wednesday, Miss Day. Good afternoon, Mr Potter."

With that, Professor Fanton strode forward, accepted the essay from a gaping Potter, and left the room with an oddly smug smile. _Smug?_

"What the bloody hell was that?"

Hazel jumped; she had forgotten Potter was still in the room.

He was staring at the door, apparently he had spoken without thinking, as Hazel doubted he would have said that to her normally. She cleared her throat.

It was Potter's turn to jump now. He spun around, a slightly guilty look on his face.

"Soooo... _Evanesco_ huh?"

"Yes." Hazel replied, still scowling.

Potter grinned lopsidedly, unperturbed. Hazel continued scowling.

The smile slid off Potter's face slowly. He ran a hand through his hair agitatedly.

"Soooooo..." He started awkwardly. "Library?"

"It takes a genius to come to that conclusion, it does."

"Oh shove off, Day. I'm trying to be helpful."

"Don't talk to me like that, Potter."

Potter growled in frustration, his eyes suddenly blazing. It was almost scary. "Look, Day. I'm trying to be nice, but you just block me at every turn. You could try and _not _be an ice-queen you know, might make you less of a -" Potter stopped talking abruptly, the fire dimming slightly. "You know what?" He glowered, "just forget. Good luck in your Vanishing Charm practice."

Hazel was struck dumb. _What _just happened?

She should have been feeling angry, shouldn't she? But all she felt was a raw, aching guilt. _Why?_ she asked herself, _why did she feel like this?_

"Potter!" She called out before she could stop herself.

He halted at the door, his hand clutching the handle tightly. He didn't turn around.

"What?"

Hazel paused. What c_ould _she say?

"Imsorry." She garbled.

Potter's grasp on the door handle lessened a fraction.

"Pardon?" He asked quietly.

"I'm sorry." Hazel repeated, slower this time. Swallowing her pride, she ploughed on. "I was out of line; you were just trying to help me."

Now, Potter turned. His hand still rested on the handle, but he no longer held it in a death grip. The corner of his mouth twitched, and his eyes held an expression Hazel couldn't place – but it was much softer than the flames of earlier.

Hazel felt her body relax from the worryingly strange panic she had experienced moment before. "So," she said, attempting to keep her face passive, but failing to restrain a tiny smile. "Library? Tomorrow lunch?"

Potter's eyebrows jerked up before deciding to remain hovered vaguely above his eyes.

"See you there."

* * *

**A.N. Hello again! Yes! This one is actually about this story! Hurrah!**

**Right, so I've had this idea for a while. I never really got on with the idea that Albus got sorted into Slytherin - he was so opposed at Kings Cross! (Now, if you think he did, I respect your opinion. I'm not saying your wrong. This is just how I view it.) **

**But, when I got this idea, I fell in love with it.**

**Albus falling for a Slytherin. **

**After that the plot escalated. I designed this Slytherin girl - who I named Hazel Day (she has a middle name, you'll discover it later). I thought about her and Al's personality, their friends, etc. **

**Although, I always loved the idea of Scorpius being sorted into Gryffindor with Al and Rose, and them becoming the sort of 'Harry, Ron and Hermione' of their generation. (B.t.w., I'm a Scorose shipper).**

**Anyway, yeah. This is about how Albus falls for a snobby, high-and-mighty Slytherin, and how she falls off her high-horse, into Albus's arms. (Dawwww!) **

**Please review! And if you hate my REAAAALLY long A.N.s, tell me!**

**FlyAway**


	2. Skepticism

**A.N. Hello and welcome to chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and aren't terribly angry at me for the amount of time I take to write chapters - especially if they're as short as these ones are. :s Sorry!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nada. Except for the characters you don't recognize - they ****_are_**** mine :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Serendipity**_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Skepticism**

* * *

_'Incredulity: doubt about the truth of something'_

* * *

Vivica Fanton was ecstatic. Surely this was it? She could sing!

Vivica swept into the staff-room, finally letting out the laugh she had been holding in the corridors. The rest of the room's occupants looked up.

Professor Longbottom put down his latest issue of _The Quibbler_ (_COULD YOU BE IN DANGER OF A WRACKSPURT INFESTATION?_) and looked at her bemusedly.

"Alright, Vivica?"

Vivica swallowed her giggles and bit back a grin.

"I've done it, everyone."

The staff froze.

Neville's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes." Vivica beamed.

As the staff cheered, Neville chuckled and picked _The Quibbler_ back up. "If my Godson doesn't see what's right in front of his nose by the end of the week, I'll buy everyone a round of drinks at _The_ _Three_ _Broomsticks_."

* * *

Albus awoke to Scorpius's grey eyes. They were dancing with mirth and mischief. As he was not in on as to why, Albus's first thought was: _oh dear._

"You've been keeping secrets, Al."

"I have?" Albus replied groggily, his sleepy mind slugging into action.

Scorpius nodded his head sagely. "What's this I hear about the library?"

Al was not a morning person. Unfortunately, Scorp was.

Albus pushed himself up slowly, yawning, and reached over for his glasses. The pale blur that had previously been Al's best friend, came into focus. "What are you talking about?"

Scorpius smirked, his shaggy platinum hair falling lazily into his eyes. "A little bird told me, you arranged to meet a girl at the library at lunch today. My question is: why didn't you tell me about this, and who is this girl?"

"And this 'little bird' would be -"

"Alison Hedges, yes." Scorp finished for him, nodding his head and grinning.

"Urg," Al groaned, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. "That little gossiper. Scorp, why do you listen to a word that comes from that girl's mouth? Most of what she says is so blown out of proportion, or passed through so many people that next to none of it is true."

Alison Hedges had long, straightened brown hair and large, milky brown eyes. She also had particularly sharp ears and an enormous mouth. Not literally, of course. Albus had never liked her; she was too blabby.

"Yeah, I know," Scorpius waved off. "But _this _is something I check, can't I?"

Albus rolled his eyes.

"So?" Scorpius pressed. "Are you meeting a girl in the library, mate?"

"Yes," Al sighed, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Scorpius exploded into raucous laughter, choking so hard he fell off Al's bed. Albus waited patiently as Scorpius continued guffawing on the floor. Eventually, Scorpius's head appeared over the side of the bed, his lips twitching, but otherwise controlled.

"Are you done destroying my ego?" Albus frowned.

"Sorry mate," Scorp said, not altogether truthfully, Albus felt. "But - I mean... You, on a date."

"I've been on a date before!" Al exclaimed, his pride and sense of manliness slowly being battered into a crumpled heap.

"Yeah, but this isn't Hogsmeade. This is the library." Scorpius stated, as if Al was being incredibly stupid.

Albus stared back blankly. "What's the difference?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes and shook his head at Al's foolishness.

"Com' on, out of bed, mate," he grinned. "I want you to tell me _and _Rose who the lucky lady is!"

"_Scorpius_!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Albus collapsed into the squadgy sofa across from the fireplace, Rose and Scorp both in the two separate armchairs that stood either side of the crimson couch, but faced inward.

Scorpius leant forward, his face a mask of sobriety. "Al," he began in a deeply somber voice. Rose's face, which had remained quite as ridiculously serious as Scorpius's, twitched at his tone. "Why didn't you tell us you had a library date today?"

Rose cracked. She stuffed her knuckles into her mouth to suppress her giggles.

Albus sighed. _What are they hoping to achieve?_ he wondered.

"It's not a date, guys."

Rose and Scorp exchanged a dubious and exasperated look.

"Of course not, Al." Rose snickered.

"It's isn't!" Al insisted, cursing himself for not going straight down to breakfast. "Look, Fanton suggested - although the way she put it, it more of an order, really - that I tutor this girl in the Vanishing Charm, because she's finding it particularly difficult. No date, nothing you may find interesting."

Slowly, Scorpius raised his eyebrows until they disappeared into his hair. "Right." He said, sarcasm laced through the one word. "Even if this is _'nothing we'd find interesting'_ – which I doubt – me and Rose –"

"Rose and I." The bushy-haired Witch automatically corrected.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "_Rose _and _I _still want to know who this girl is." He glanced at Rose. "You do want to know, right?"

Rose nodded, smirking slightly.

"So?" Scorpius pressed, both he and Rose wearing grim expressions that seemed to take up a lot of willpower just to keep from cracking into grins.

Albus sighed, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"Look," he began, but was interrupted by someone plunking themselves next to him.

Albus's vision was obscured momentarily by a mass of untidy bright red hair growing every-which-way.

"Hey, Lils." He said.

His sister turned to him, grinning far too mischievously for comfort. Lily, like her brothers, had inherited the stubbornly untidy hair from their dad; a fact for which their mother teased the four of them mercilessly.

"Hey, Al. 'Lo Rose, Scorp." They smiled and muttered hello. "So, Al," Lily started, the impish smile back. "What's this Library date you lot are talking about?"

Al blanched.

* * *

Hazel's morning up until breakfast was uneventful. She had awoken, dressed, washed and descended to the Common Room. After greeting Jack, Abbie and Zara, the four of them had continued to the Great Hall, where they had sat down and started breakfast.

See? Completely uneventful.

Then, of course, Potter, his sister, Malfoy and Weasley ruined this wonderfully run of the mill morning by entering the Hall. This drew her attention, as they were being rather loud.

The smaller Potter – Lily – , Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley were laughing uncontrollably. Albus (No – _Potter_) was scowling, glaring at his friends. He hurried to the Gryffindor table while the other three followed him, a bit slower due to their laughter.

Hazel followed them with her eyes all the way to the Gryffindor table. She didn't really realize she was doing so until a heavy weight placed itself next to her on the bench. Snapped out of her reverie, she glanced sidelong at the intruder.

It was Dale.

She suddenly felt irritated. She wasn't sure what at.

"Hazel?" Abbie asked, raising a dark eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"What were you looking at?"

Hazel's head spun around to face Abbie, her features morphing into a scowl.

"Nothing."

Naturally, after that things started going downhill.

"Really?" Jack questioned, he too raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "'Cause I thought you were meeting Albus Potter at the Library during lunch today?"

Hazel froze. Merlin, were her friends enjoying this?

Dale's fork halted half-way to his mouth. He had said nothing since he had sat down – just as he always did. His head turned and he glared at the side of Hazel's head. She stubbornly refused to look at him, instead choosing to inspect her eggs.

"What?" Dale asked, voice hard. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

Slowly, Hazel faced her boyfriend, surveying him from beneath her lashes.

"Well, I didn't think it was of any importance." She lied.

Hazel had long since perfected the art of lying – when one lived with Hazel's mother one needed to know these things. Because of this, Hazel could lie dramatically, straight to someone's face, and not blink an eyelid. Merlin, had she been grateful she had leant at such an early age recently.

Dale's face became tremendously skeptical, but he let it go. "Why, may I ask, are you meeting Potter in the Library?"

Hazel sniffed, returning to her bacon. "_I _didn't exactly arrange it. Professor Fanton told Potter to tutor me because I'm struggling in Transfiguration; so Potter said he'd meet me in the Library at lunch today."

Dale frowned. "I'm coming."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "No. You're not."

Dale opened his mouth once more to argue, but Hazel pushed her plate back, grabbed her bag and swung up off the seat. "I'm going to Herbology. See you later."

With that, she hurried out of the Great Hall.

* * *

This was killing him. He was quite certain this was actual murder.

Albus was sitting in Defense Against the Dark Arts in his usual seat, Rose on one side and Scorp on the other. Professor Finnigan was giving a lecture at the front of the class. Albus knew he should have been listening – Defense was his strong suit after all – but he was far too nervous.

It was lunch next.

Oh, Merlin.

"Albus."

Al shook his head. Lavender – no, _Professor Finnigan _(he really had to watch that, he was so used to calling her Lavender outside of school)was looking at him, one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised in amusement.

"What?" Al asked, still not quite back from his anxious musings.

"I asked you a question, Mr. Potter," Lavender smirked, laughter in her eyes.

"You did?" Al asked, shaking his head clear of all thoughts of Hazel Day.

"Yes. Why is the name 'Unforgivable' not suitable for said curses?"

Albus replied without hesitation. "Because it implies that other curses _are_ forgivable. If someone, say, tortured another with slicing charms, is that forgivable? If someone blew someone else up with _Reducto, _is that forgivable? What the name of the Unforgivable Curses is saying is yes, it is forgivable. Which it is most definitely not. You can torture, control and kill others just as easily with other spells and potions as you can with _Cruico_, _Imperio _and _Avada Kedavra_ – although, they are the easiest and least messiest ways to do so."

Lavender beamed. "Excellent as usual, Al, ten points to Gryffindor! Do try to pay attention from now on though." She peered cheerfully at him. "Now as I was saying…"

Albus did his best to pay attention for the rest of the lecture.

"Okay!" Professor Finnigan smiled. "Time to have a quick attempt at the Shield Charm. Pair-up please."

Rose waved cheerily to Scorpius and Al, making her way over to a Ravenclaw friend of hers.

"Come on then, Al. Give me the best you've got." Scorpius grinned, rolling up his sleeves and readying his wand.

"Remember," Al reminded. "_Protego_."

"I'll remember, don't worry, Al. Though my hopes aren't high, you are the best at Defense in the whole year."

Al flushed. "Okay, ready?" Scorpius nodded. "_Colloshoo!_"

_"Protego!_"

Scorpius's shield expanded from his wand, but Albus's Stickfast Hex shattered the thin protection and hit Scorpius, sticking his shoes to the floor.

"Sorry Scorp!" Al cried, as Scorp muttered the Counter-Curse and gingerly lifted his feet from the ground.

"No worries, mate." Scorpius grinned again. "This is your best subject. My turn now. _Locomotor Wibbly!_"

"_Protego!_" Al's shield dented and cracked, falling apart, but not before Scorpius's spell was deflected at the wall. "Shall we keep going?" Al asked.

"Most certainly, my dear friend. _Furnunculus!_"

"_Protego! _Pimple Hex – I don't care if you are my best mate, you'll pay for that one." Al laughed. "_Mucus Ad Nauseam!_"

"_Protego!_" Al's spell bounced off Scorpius's shield, rolling back towards Al. "I did it!"

After dodging the Bogey Curse, Albus grinned at Scorpius. "That was brilliant."

"Excellent!" Lavender called from the front of the class. "Albus, Scorpius. Twenty points each! Alright class, that's it. Homework: perfect the Shield Charm for next lesson. Class dismissed."

The Ravenclaw and Gryffindor fifth years packed up their bags, piling out of the door and moving straight away in the direction of the Great Hall.

"So," Scorpius asked in a slightly teasing tone as Rose joined them in the corridor. "Got time to eat before your date?"

Al glared at him. Scorp just smirked.

"Probably," Albus said waspishly.

Rose smiled. "Come on you then, we can't have Al being late."

Albus sighed. "I hate you two."

Scorp grinned once more. "We love you too mate."

* * *

**_Colloshoo_ and the following spells are from Pottermore :)**

**A.N. Don't forget to review!**

**FlyAway**


	3. Studious

**DISCLAIMER: Of course I don't own. Who do you think I am? Though I do own Dale Greengrass and Hazel Day.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Studious**

* * *

_'Spending a lot of time studying or reading'_

* * *

"I'm off," Albus announced, swinging up out of his seat and throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"Good luck," Scorpius gave a little wave, winking at Al. "Behave yourself."

Albus hit him around the head with his bag, Scorpius swore violently.

"Does your mother know you use that kind of language?" Rose asked conversationally, biting into a pasty and looking at Scorpius with raised eyebrows.

Scorpius just rolled his eyes fondly. "What the bloody hell have you got in that bag?" He asked Albus, rubbing his forehead.

"Transfiguration textbook," Al replied smugly, slinging said bag back onto his shoulder.

"You've been carrying a heavy textbook that we don't need today around with you all day?" Scorpius asked in disbelief.

"Um, yeah," Albus replied, "I don't think the library's got it."

"Unbelievable." Scorpius shook his head. "Why didn't you just leave it in the dorm and get it before going to meet this girl – whom, by the way, I _still_ don't know the identity of."

"I – I didn't think of that," Albus admitted sheepishly.

"Clearly." Scorpius said, layering ham onto his buttered bread. "Just forget it, mate. Good luck with the bird."

"Scorpius – you know what?" Albus said, exasperated. "I give up. See you later guys."

With that, Albus Severus Potter departed from the Great Hall.

Scorpius watched him go, munching pensively on his sandwich. "Reckon we should follow him?" He asked Rose, whose nose was buried in a hefty volume entitled: _Achieving in Astronomy_. "Find out who this girl is?"

"No," Rose replied, turning the page of her book. "Just leave him be."

Scorpius sighed and returned to his lunch.

"And for the record," Rose added, still not glancing up from _Achieving in Astronomy_. "I do not appreciate you referring to girls as 'birds'." She lifted her eyes from the page, glaring stormily at him.

He gulped.

* * *

Hazel tapped her foot impatiently. Where was he? _She'd_ been here for ten minutes! She glowered at the words on the page in front of her. She had been staring at the same paragraph for half of the time she'd been here, but none of it seemed to have gone into her head.

"_'An Extensive History of Fwoopers'_? Didn't know you were into that kind of thing."

Hazel jumped, _An Extensive History of Fwoopers _thumping shut. Albus Potter was smiling at over from the other side of the table she was sat at.

"I'm not," She replied shortly. "It was just on the desk."

Potter shrugged. "Fair enough. Nice spot, this." He said, gesturing around. Hazel had chosen this table because – yes – it was nice. It was nestled snugly between two bookshelves, next to an arched window that had a lovely view of the grounds and shone sunlight onto the bench.

"Yes."

Albus glanced about, inflating his cheeks and letting them out in a sharp exhalation. "Sooooo… _Evanesco_?" He asked looking hesitantly at Hazel.

She met his gaze evenly. "Yes."

"Nice chatting to you too," She heard Potter mutter as he pulled a hardback from his bag. Hazel chose to ignore this comment. "Okay, right." Potter said, opening the textbook and flipping through its pages. "_Evanesco, Evanesco, Evanesc – _here!" He pushed the book towards her, pointing at a diagram depicting the correct wand movement for performing a vanishing charm. "It's dead easy once you grasp it. You'll be vanishing stuff in no time."

"I do have this textbook, Potter." Hazel reminded him scornfully.

"_Yes_," Albus replied forcefully, apparently reaching the end of his fuse. "But have really _read_ it?"

"Of course I have." She scoffed. Potter raised a dubious eyebrow.

"Right," He took his wand from his pocket and tapped the Transfiguration textbook smartly. "_Evanesco!_"

The book vanished.

Then, Potter jabbed the air where the book have disappeared and said: "_Revelo!" _

The book re-appeared.

Potter lay his wand down on the desk. "Your turn."

Hazel lifted her wand and repeated Potter's movement. "_Evanesco!_"

The textbook's cover and writing vanished. The parchment pages remaining fluttering on the table, however.

Hazel glared hatefully at the offending remnants. Sodding book wouldn't even vanish properly.

"That's a pretty good start, actually. We can work from that easy." Potter said smiling at her – perhaps he was trying to instill some peace.

"If you say so," Hazel replied without thinking, still staring at the pages balefully.

Potter grinned at her. "Your movement is a bit sloppy, which is why you're having problems I think," He told her. "It needs to be really sharp, like this." He demonstrated. "Try it."

Hazel flicked her wand at the book.

"Better, but add more 'oomph' to it. Imagine you're hitting someone you really don't like on the head."

"What?"

"Just do it."

Hazel looked at him oddly, but did as instructed.

"Perfect." Potter said, offering Hazel a smile, which she ignored. "Now try _revelo_."

Hazel nodded. "_Revelo!_" She tapped the pages in a similar way to Potter and, sure enough, the cover and text reappeared. Hazel laughed. "I did it!"

"Great!" Potter grinned at her again. She liked it when he did that, she decided – his eyes lit up and crinkled at the corners. "Feel like trying again?"

"Definitely."

* * *

After half an hour of practice, Hazel had improved dramatically. She was vanishing everything she could, from Albus's glasses to entire bookcases (for which she got a severe shouting-at from Madam Pince and was nearly thrown out).

She had also loosened up a lot, Al noticed. She no longer simply spoke in one or two-word answers, but asked questions and even engaged in conversation. Albus didn't know whether she was aware that she was doing so. It seemed that the whole uptight-persona was a complete façade.

_So much for the haughty, sneering, unattainable ice-princess_, Albus thought, watching Hazel once again make her textbooks disappear.

In fact, Albus was certain that, when they finished, Hazel would suddenly realize how open and sociable she had been and would blush, scowl and march out the library without so much as a 'thank you' and proceed to avoid him for days.

"_Evanesco!_"

The sharply spoken word and following triumphant laugh brought Al out of his musings.

"See?" He said, grinning, "Easy, just need to grasp the movement."

"Yeah," Hazel agreed, leaning down to examine a spot on the tabletop.

"Um – if you don't mind me asking – what are you doing?" Al asked, leaning down so his face was level with Hazel's, whose head was resting sideways on the wood.

Her bright blue eyes met Al's for a moment, before returning to their inspection of the desk.

"I'm looking at how a book's shadow is affected when it's vanished." She said, waving her hand in the empty space where _An Extensive History of Fwoopers _had previously been.

"Eerrr, why?"

Hazel frowned at him. "Because it's interesting."

Albus smiled faintly. "If you say so." He echoed her earlier statement.

Hazel's eyes snapped up to meet Albus's emerald gaze. His lips were quirked up ever so slightly at the corners. For an instant, Al thought he saw Hazel give a tiny smile.

_UMPH._

A large dark green bag was dropped forcefully onto the table.

Albus stared at the intruder.

It was tall boy with a head of carefully styled dark hair, a sharp face and haughty, aristocratic features. The sleeves of his crisp shirt were rolled up to his elbows; his sliver and green tie was looped loosely around his neck; the bottom of his shirt was un-tucked and his top-button hung open.

Albus glanced down at his own unkempt appearance; his uniform was in a similar state (except the fact his was a lot less 'deliberately untidy because it's cool' and much more 'hopelessly scruffy'), yet he failed to pull it off with the casual air of self-assurance that exuded from the newcomer.

The newcomer who Albus recognized, but could not to put a name to the face.

"Hazel." Deliberately Untidy said.

"Dale." Hazel responded – somewhat frostily in Al's opinion –, her head no longer lying on the desk.

Dale...

Dale Greengrass – that was his name!

"Let's go." Greengrass said, scowling ever so slightly.

"Excuse me?" Hazel asked, affronted.

"Surely you're done by now?" scoffed Greengrass.

Hazel opened her mouth and then closed it. "I suppose." She frowned. "Potter?"

Greengrass turned his now-murderous gaze on Al.

"Yeah," Albus said warily. "You've pretty much mastered _Evanesco_. There aren't any other spells you want to go over, are there?"

Hazel stopped collecting her possessions and looked at Al with an inscrutable expression on her face. "I don't think so," she said. "But I'm awful at Transfiguration, so I can't really do any of the spells in class."

"Well, if you ever want some help, you can always come find me." Albus allowed a ghost of a smile to rest on his lips as he watched Hazel straighten up and secure her bag on her shoulder.

Greengrass wrapped a possessive arm around Hazel's waist. "Goodbye, Potter." He said coldly, picking up his own bag from the table and attempting to steer Hazel in the direction of the exit.

Hazel glared at him icily, and turned back to Al, her eyes softer. "I will." Albus couldn't stop the corners of his mouth curving up.

Greengrass coughed. "Come on, Hazel."

Hazel sighed angrily, but let Greengrass guide her away with him.

"Bye, Potter." She called over her shoulder.

"Bye," Albus smiled sadly, raising a hand in farewell.

After watching the two leave, he rubbed a hand over his face and packed up. When the table was clear of his belongings, the only thing left was the old book Hazel had been reading when he arrived. Al stood there, bag in hand, and looked at the faded red cover. Slowly, he reached out and traced the washed-out gold lettering:

_An Extensive History of Fwoopers_

_By Artemis Flyer_

He shook his head as if to clear it and strode out of the Library, leaving the volume on the table.

* * *

**A.N. Hello! I know this chapter's short, and I apologise, I've just got a lot going on at the moment. :) Update though! The Serendipity banner (and a sketch of ****_An Extensive History of Fwoopers)_**** is now up on my tumblr, the link to which is on my profile (when there, click on the 'Fanfiction Extras' button). I'll also be posting character head sketches on there soon too, the first ****_hopefully_**** by the end of tomorrow, latest.**

**- FlyAway**


	4. Savage

**DISCLAIMER: Again, I don't own.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Savage**

* * *

_'(of an animal or force of nature) fierce, violent, and uncontrolled'_

* * *

The Common Room was mostly empty when Albus clambered through the portrait hole; the only occupants being Rose, Scorpius and a couple of second years playing chess in the corner. Scorpius and Rose were sitting on the sofa directly across from fire, playing exploding snap. Scorpius smirked at him while Rose packed away the cards.

"How was it, mate?"

Al rolled his eyes as he made his way over to them, taking a seat in the armchair he had occupied that morning.

"Good. Not that it's any of your business, Scorp." He told Scorpius jokily.

"It is so my business," Scorpius retaliated, leaning forward and grinning. "It is my job to find out whether or not this girl is going to break my poor, naïve best mate's heart. And if so, stop her before it's too late."

"Shove off, Scorp."

Scorpius laughed.

Rose shook her head good-naturedly, smiling at their banter. "So who _was_ this girl Al? Can you tell us now?"

Al shrugged. "I guess so – just don't tease me okay?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Scorpius quipped.

Albus narrowed his eyes at Scorp. "Somehow I doubt that. But fine, it was Hazel Day, happy?"

Rose and Scorpius stared at Al in shock. Then, Scorp fell on the hearthrug in a fit of laughter.

"Aww. Albus and Hazel! Day and Potter!"

Rose, who was in much the same state as Scorpius, did nothing to stifle the new wave of giggles that overcame her.

"_Pottay!_"

Scorpius and Rose dissolved into yet more cackles.

Albus found it less amusing.

"Can you stop now please?"

Scorpius gasped for air and swallowed back his snorts. "Sorry mate, I'm done now. Rose?"

"Oh yeah," her lips twitched dangerously. "Yeah, done."

"Do you want me to tell you what happened or not?" Albus asked shortly.

Scorpius snapped to attention and Rose nodded eagerly, so Al proceeded to tell them about his meeting with Hazel. When he got to the part about Greengrass, Scorpius interrupted.

"Hold on, Dale Greengrass? What was my git of a cousin doing there?"

"Cousin?" Rose frowned.

"Yeah, he's my cousin. Didn't you know?"

"No." Albus and Rose said together.

"Well I suppose it's not really common knowledge." Scorpius reasoned. "I've no idea why though, it's not all that hard to figure out. His mum's my mum's sister, Daphne Greengrass. She got pregnant with him from some rich Pureblood, apparently – never has said who. But this guy didn't want to deal with a baby, and they weren't engaged or anything, so he upped and left. For all we know Dale's blood might not be as pure as we're all led to believe. The git – Dale – never has liked me. When we were growing up, he seemed to think he was superior to me because he was a year older or something. We weren't exactly buddy-buddy, even before my sorting."

When Scorpius had finished his story, Rose and Albus were quiet for a moment. Then Albus pulled him into a tight embrace.

"You've got us, mate. And Teddy's a much better cousin than Greengrass, right? Even if he is more distantly related."

Rose slipped off the sofa onto the floor and tugged Scorpius into another hug – Grandma Weasley worthy – as Albus released him.

"Yeah," Scopius's said from over Rose's shoulder. "Teddy's great."

_Tap tap tap._

Rose looked up. "What's that?"

_Tap tap tap._

"Gemini!" Albus cried, leaping up and un-latching the window to the let his owl in. Gemini glided through, landing on the arm of the sofa.

"Who's the letter from?" Albus asked as he made his way back over.

"Dunno," Rose replied, stroking the barn owl's head.

Albus reached out and freed the note attached to his owl's leg. "It's from Hagrid." He informed Rose and Scorpius, recognizing the untidy scrawl at once and unfolding the parchment.

_Albus, Rose and Scorpius,_

_Please could you come to my hut as soon as you can? Something exciting has happened._

_Hagrid_

"Oh dear." Albus said.

"I'm not sure I want to know," groaned Scorpius.

Wordlessly, Albus held out the letter.

Rose took it, Scorpius reading over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in worry, Scorpius dropped his head into his hands.

"When he says exciting, it really means he's got hold of something extremely dangerous." He said matter-of-factly, his words muffled.

* * *

Twenty minutes later found them in front of Hagrid's hut, knocking on his door.

"Hagrid, it's us!" Albus called.

The door opened a crack. "Com' in, quickly." Hagrid said, ushering them in and closing the door hurriedly.

Rose and Scorpius shrugged of their cloaks and hung them up. Albus did not.

"Hagrid," he groaned. "What's that?" The other two froze and stared at where Al was pointing.

Sitting innocently on a mat in front of the fire, nestled in blue blankets, was a large egg.

"Ah, tha'," Hagrid said. "Tha's wha' I wanted te show yer." He strode over to the hearth and heaved the egg carefully up onto the table. It wobbled ominously. "I've not iden'ified it yet," Hagrid continued. "But it's hatchin'."

Rose, Al, and Scorp gaped at Hagrid in horror.

"You don't know what kind of egg that is?!" Scorpius exclaimed. "Oh no."

"Where did you get it Hagrid?" Al asked, already knowing the answer.

"Won it," said Hagrid proudly. "Down a' the pub."

Rose groaned. "Hagrid! It could be something really dangerous! In fact, if you got it off of some bloke at the Hog's Head, it definitely is!"

"Now now, Rose," Hagrid said. "It wasn't a bloke I got it from, nah, it was this little ol' lady. She was damn good at cards though."

Just then, the egg gave a huge tremble and rocked on the tabletop, the baby inside squealing hoarsely. Hagrid leant forward, beaming. Albus, Rose and Scorpius recoiled.

_Crack._

A small fracture appeared on the shell, spiraling outwards across the surface of the egg. It gave an almighty shudder and a section from the top split apart from the rest of the shell and fell with a sticky clatter onto the wood. The four of them bent over the table, watching as the egg hatched – Hagrid with much more enthusiasm than the other three.

Through the newly-made hole emerged a dark, wet nose, attached to a furry yellowish-brown colour snout. Poking out of the top of the egg was lion cub's head.

"Umm, what is…?" Scorpius trailed off. Rose's face was stark white; Hagrid's eyes had widened to the size of dinner plates.

The egg continued to hatch. A small paw pushed its way through and further down a cloven hoof had smashed its way out. Covered in cracks, the egg splintered apart, revealing the rest of the strange creature.

Its back-half was that of a goat, but its front was a lion and instead of a tail, a poisonous-green snake curled through the air. The lion cub head that they had seen at first was side-by-side with the head of baby goat.

Albus and Scorpius gawked at it; Rose gasped; Hagrid's eyes went misty.

"Isn't 'e beau'iful?" He crooned.

"BEAUTIFUL!?" Rose shrieked. "Hagrid, that's a Chimaera! They're classified as five Xs for a reason! They are so dangerous, oh Merlin! This is _not_ good! Oh dear sweet Merlin!" Rose started hyperventilating, shaking her hands and head and pacing in agitation. Scorpius hopped and rubbed her back.

"Rose calm down," Al said. "I know this is bad but you're scaring it." He gestured to the Chimaera, who was shaking, snake tail tucked between its legs. Rose stared at the creature for a moment, then exploded.

"IT'S A BLOODY CHIMAERA!"

Scorpius winced and rubbed his ears, before going back to calming down Rose.

The Chimaera, terrified by Rose's bellow, yipped and ran to Albus. He watched incredulously as the creature buried into his arms, shaking like a leaf, and the snake wrapped around his left forearm.

"Look, Al!" Hagrid beamed. "He likes ye!"

Al hesitantly stroked the Chimaera's back, where the lion fur shifted to goat hair. It was an odd feeling: the lion fur was silky and soft, but the goat hair was coarse and wiry. Then, of course, it struck him that he was stroking a Chimaera; the vicious, man-eating, impossible-to-domesticate Chimaera. That was an even odder feeling.

Suddenly, Albus felt his whole body start to vibrate. He blinked, looking down at the Chimaera in his arms.

It was purring.

Bloody purring! He moved his hand to the lion head and scratched behind the little creature's ear. The Chimaera stretched and all three of its heads yawned simultaneously, exposing pink, toothless gums. It looked up at Al, reached up and licked him on the nose with his lion head.

Albus looked at the Chimaera, startled. Then his face split into a huge grin. He tickled the Chimaera's nose, causing it to wag its snake tail and roll onto its belly.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"Look," Al smiled. "He's friendly."

Rose stared at Al.

Scorpius, however, walked away from Rose and joined Albus in rubbing the Chimaera's tummy. "Awww, you're adorable." He cooed.

Rose's jaw dropped.

"Come over, Rose," Hagrid said, getting up out of his chair. "I'll make some tea."

Hesitantly, Rose approached the boys, who stopped their cuddling of the creature and looked at her expectantly. The Chimaera's lion head gazed up at her solemnly, its great golden eyes soulful and friendly. Cautiously, she put a hand on the top of its head. It started to purr again. A smile twitched at the corners of Rose's mouth.

Scorpius smirked. "C'mon, Rose. He's the sweetest savage beast you've ever met and you know it – I can see that little smile."

To Rose's credit, to did try. Her entire face strained from the effort not to smile. The attempt failed though – she gave a laugh and her face split into a grin. She rubbed the Chimaera's ears and tickled its tummy.

"He?" she asked, giggling as the creature licked her fingers. "How do you know it's a he?"

Hagrid came back over, carrying four mugs a colourful teapot, and sat down, placing the ceramics on the table. "I'd say 'e's an 'e," he said, pouring tea into each of the cups and handing them out. "But then again, I'm not an expert on Chimaeras."

"D'reckon there are any books on Chimaera's in the Library?" said Scorpius.

"There're books on everything in the Library." Rose replied, sniffing disdainfully. "But we might need a pass into the Restricted Section for books on Chimaeras, considering how dangerous they are and all."

"Well, if ye do, I might be able to 'elp." Hagrid took a long draft from his tea. "I'll sign a permission slip if ye need."

"We might not need one," pointed-out Albus, scratching the end of the Chimaera's snake nose. "If there are books on how to raise a dragon _not _in the Restricted Section, then there could be books on Chimaera's in a similar place."

"That's a good point." Scorpius said.

"But Hagrid," Rose spoke up. "What are we going to _do_ with him?"

"He's goin' te stay with me."

"Yes," Rose pressed. "But what about when he out-grows your Hut? He might be friendly now but I doubt he'll be so nice when he's grown."

"You never know, Rose," Albus said. "If he's like this now, he could be domesticated."

"He's a Chimaera!" Rose protested.

"The first domesticated Chimaera!" Scorpius said stridently, raising a hand dramatically. "I can see the front page now!"

Rose whacked him with her scarf.

"Ouch!"

"So what are you going to call him, Hagrid?" Albus interrupted before Rose and Scorp could fire up.

"Oh," Hagrid smiled. "I was thinkin' maybe Tufty, ye know, 'cause of the tufts round his head."

Albus looked down and, sure enough, there were tufts of orangey coloured fur sprouting out from around the lion head. On closer inspection, they looked to Al like a lion's mane. Maybe Tufty _was_ a boy after all.

"I didn't think lion cubs had a mane that early." Rose said, leaning in to look.

"Yeah, well," Scorpius responded sarcastically. "Lion cubs don't hatch out of eggs, have hooves, a goat head or a snake for tail."

Rose threw him a scornful look. Albus rolled his eyes.

"So," Scorp continued. "Tufty the Chimaera, huh? Nice to meet you, mate." He held out a hand to the creature. Tufty just gazed serenely back at him.

* * *

**A.N. Hello! Quick update huh? I'll run through it for mistakes in the morning 'coz my mum think's I'm in bed right now so... But hey! Longest chapter yet! **

**I have some little announcements though, so LISTEN UP :)**

**5 character profile sketches are now up on my tumblr, so check them out if you want! I'm still working on an Al because the first one I did, he was way too young-looking...**

**And vote on my PROFILE for whether I should start a character ask blog for Rose, Al and Scorpius from this universe. You'd be able to ask them questions about what has happened in the story, general stuff ****_(examples: do you like cream cheese? Scorpius, what are your feeling for Rose?_****) and such. It would be really fun. But I don't want to start one if no one's going to ask questions.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**- FlyAway**


	5. Snowfall

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Hazel and Zara.**

**DEDICATED to all you wonderful readers who are always so patient with my abysmal writing speed.**

* * *

**_Serendipity_**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Snowfall**

* * *

_'__A fall of snow'_

* * *

Mid-November brought snow. The great flakes fell thick and fast, blanketing the grounds in layer of glittering frost. Al, Rose and Scorp had no opportunity to go to the Library in the week following Tufty's hatching, due to an avalanche of homework – their families obviously hadn't been joking when they said fifth year was bad.

It was four days after their visit to Hagrid's that the chance to go to the Library arose. After a quick lunch, Albus, Rose and Scorpius hurried to the Library and headed to the _Rare and Dangerous Creatures _Section.

"Alright," Rose said, dumping her bag on the table in the middle. "Time to search: Albus, you take this bookcase, Scorpius that one," she pointed to the neighbouring shelf. "And I'll take the one at far end." They each began to search their assigned segments, pulling out and magicking down book after book after book.

Finally, Scorpius let out a triumphant 'yes!' and heaved a massive volume onto the nearby bench. The enormous hardcover was reasonably thick, but it was classed as 'enormous' because it was simply so large in page and cover size – obscuring Scorp's chest and abdomen when he carried it.

"Merlin," Albus exclaimed quietly, so as not to anger Madam Pince. "It's _huge_. Why would even make a book that big? That's ridiculous."

The brown cover was old and worn, the embossed silver lettering faded – more grey than silver.

"_The Chimaera: Moste Vicious and Awesome Beaste_," Rose read. "_By Flavian Bowsone."_

"Nice name," Scorpius snickered. Al laughed. Rose rolled her eyes and pulled the book towards her.

"The thing is," she said, "Tufty doesn't look like Chimaeras should."

"What?" Al stared at her. "How do you know what Chimaeras look like?"

"I've actually read _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _is how."

Al opened his mouth to retort, but closed it again, seemingly unable to think of a reply.

"What is a Chimaera supposed to look like?" Scorpius asked.

"Well, according to Newt Scamander, they have the body of a goat, the head of a lion and a dragon's tail." Rose informed them, carefully opening the tome. "Not exactly what Tufty looks like, now is it?"

"It's pretty close," Scorpius said as he and Al leaned forward over the table, so as to be able to read the book.

Rose ran her finger down the contents page. "Hmm," she said. "Let's check out 'Appearance and Physical Characteristics'. Sixty-eight, sixty-eight..." She flipped to the page and scanned it, before reading out a section outlined thickly in black, dominating most of the left-hand page.

"'_There existe strange and savage variations of this moste-foul and extraordinary creature: with serpent's tongues and wings of dragons.'"_

"What?" Scorpius asked, staring at the book with a look of complete befuddlement on his face. "I did not get that at all. Could you translate it into English, Rose?"

"It is in English, stupid." Rose replied with a fond sigh.

"Not what I heard," Scorpius replied flatly.

"I'll try, I suppose, for the simpleton among us." Rose said loftily, receiving an angry glare for her troubles. "Basically, it's saying that there are different types of Chimaera. The lion's head, goat's boy and dragon's tail is the most common."

Rose continued reading quickly. "The others are rarer. There's two varieties too, winged and non-winged. The winged kinds are the unusual species while the non-winged ones are more common.

"I mean, there quite a few different types here. Lion head, snake tail, goat body; lion head, dragon tail, goat head and body; goat head, lion head, dragon tail _and_ snake tail..." She trailed off. "That's a lot. And they're all basically the same mishmash of creatures, just put together in slightly different ways.

"_However_, it does state here that most of them–" Rose went pale, her freckles standing out harshly on her skin. "_Bloody hell!_" she exclaimed quietly. "They breathe fire! _Fire_! They _breathe_ _fire._"

"_What?_" Albus burst out, his cry echoing around the Library. He clamped a hand over his mouth. Appearing from nowhere, Madam Pince swooped down on them like some bony, bad-tempered vulture.

"What are you doing sitting around and shrieking like you own the place? This is a library!" she hissed.

"But Madam Pince we were just –" began Rose.

"Out!" the Librarian snapped, spittle flying from her lips. "Out!" She brandished her feather-duster at them and charmed their bags to bite at their ankles.

"Madam Pince could we please sign this book o–" Rose tried again.

"Are you deaf? Get out!" Madam Pince wrestled _The Chimaera: Moste Vicious and Awsome Beaste_ out of Rose's grip and proceeded to rap her smartly around head with the duster. Scorpius, Albus and Rose made a run for it. They dashed out of the Library, bags snarling at their heels, leaving an irate Madam Pince clutching the book possessively.

* * *

Scorpius skidded to a stop at the end of the Charms Corridor.

"Well great, now we have no Chimaera book." He got out between pants.

"We did manage to get some useful info though," Albus reminded him, puffing.

"Yeah, like Tufty's going to burn Hagrid's house down any day now."

"Hold on," Rose held up a finger. "We don't know at what age Chimaera's start to breathe fire, or if he will at all. The book said _most_, not all. Tufty might not start spewing flames until he's a year old – or more – or he might not start spewing flames at all. But if he does breathe fire, he could start any day now!"

"We need to get that book back," Al said. "Pronto."

"But the soonest we'll be allowed anywhere near the Library is tomorrow, maybe the day after." Scorpius reasoned. "Damn it!"

"We could ask someone else to go sign it out." Rose suggested.

"Oh yeah, that'll be easy to explain," Scorpius replied sarcastically. "'_Excuse me? Could you just pop to the Library and sign this book out for us? You see, our friend has illegally attained a Chimaera and we just need this book so we can help him care for it.'_ They won't rat us out to Flitwick at all."

Albus sighed and grabbed his two best friends by the wrists. "Let's just go down to Hagrid's." He said, steering them towards the direction of the staircase. "We can tell him about our discoveries and maybe plan what to do now."

* * *

Hazel watched yet another snowflake fall onto the glass and melt into a water-droplet, slowly dribbling down the windowpane.

She currently on a mission to avoid Dale, _Mission Evade Hot-Air-Spewing Git_, she called it.

She was rather proud of that name, if she did say so herself.

But Hazel knew her little hidey-hole would be discovered sooner or later, and then she'd have to face the music. Maybe the world would be kind to her and she'd get another half-hour of peace. But she knew better. Jack, Zara, Abbie and Dale – Merlin she hoped he didn't find her – were probably scouring the Castle at that very moment for her.

Hazel raised a hand and touched a finger to a water-trail on the window, tracing it down until she met the droplet making it. Her hand lingered on the glass for a moment, before moving away as she leaned forward and huffed on the window, fogging it up. She drew a smiley face in the condensation.

"You know there's no point in defacing the school windows, right?"

Hazel was so caught off-guard that, when she spun around, she nearly toppled off of her perch.

"Zara!" She exclaimed when she saw who it was. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Zara half-grinned and strolled up to the ledge on which Hazel was sitting, her back against the wall, knees pulled up, arms wrapped around them. Zara sat down opposite the red-head, imitating her pose.

There was quiet for a few seconds. Then –

"You'll have to face them sometime, Haze."

Hazel's eyes flicked from the view outside the window to the brunette. "I know."

More quiet.

"It'll be a little while before they get here – I knew where to look –, do you want to talk?"

Hazel wrenched her gaze from the white-frosted grounds into the kind chocolate-coloured eyes of her best friend.

Zara was, perhaps, Hazel's only real friend. Sure, Abbie and Jack were her friends, but not like Zara. She, Hazel was positive, had been incorrectly sorted, because Zara Pulman was a Hufflepuff through and through: hard-working, just, kind, caring and loyal to the core. But alas, she bore the green and silver.

While Abbie was exotically pretty – dark skin and hair, perfectly sculpted face, long legs –, Zara was one of those girls that you had to look twice at to see just how beautiful she really was. Zara had flowing brown hair and matching eyes set on olive skin that had seen, and currently housed, its fair share of pimples and blemishes. She was curvy and her chin was, perhaps, a little too prominent. But what really made her beautiful, cliché as it may be, was what was inside: her kindness shone from her eyes, lighting them up and making them sparkle.

Hazel sighed. "I don't know," she admitted.

Zara leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

Hazel's curls bounced and twirled as she buried her face in her hands. "I'm just so confused, Zara. I've got all these conflicting emotions and I'm– I'm a mess, Zee."

Zara laid a hand on Hazel's knee consolingly. "Do you want to try and explain any of them? It might help to get off it your chest."

Hazel didn't raise her head. "Well there's Dale." She said.

Zara frowned in worry. "Yeah?"

"He's driving me up the wall, Zee!" Hazel suddenly burst out. "I can barely stand to be in the same room as him; everything that comes out of his mouth just makes me want to throttle him: hot air, all of it!"

"Amen, sister." Zara joked, eliciting a small smile from Hazel. "Too bad we're underage," she continued. "Or I'd say we could crank out the Firewhiskey and get sloshed, drown your problems in alcohol, you know."

Hazel gave a barely-audible laugh. "Like being underage would stop us," she jested quietly.

Zara beamed triumphantly.

"C'mon," she said, standing up from the windowsill and offering a hand to Hazel. "Let's go be kids and have a snowball fight."

Hazel took Zara's hand and pulled herself up from the ledge. "But I don't have a scarf or gloves or anything."

Zara tsked, drawing her wand. She waved it and muttered an incantation, conjuring two sets of matching scarves and gloves, purple for her, blue for Hazel.

"Impressive," Hazel said, wrapping her scarf around her neck.

"I try," Zara quipped in return, grabbing Hazel's gloved hand and dragging her down the corridor.

* * *

"Oh bloody hell, it's freezing," Rose cried, her crass mouth coming out of hiding in the sudden temperature change.

Al buried his head further down into his scarf. "I can't feel my ears."

"Don't exaggerate mate, we've been out here for five seconds." Scorpius smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Well it's alright for you," Al said coolly. "Your ears are protected by your excessively long hair."

"Oi! Your hair covers your ears too!"

"Guys," Rose said patiently. "Let's just agree to disagree, shall we?"

As they trekked across the snow-covered grounds, Rose conjuring a bluebell-flame and holding it in her hands in an effort to keep them warm. Hardly anyone else was out on the grounds (a silly choice, if you asked Al – it was snowing!), so when they heard laughter, they were fairly surprised.

Ahead of them, Hazel Day and Zara Pulman were having a snowball fight, unaware of their presence, giggling like little girls.

The three of them stopped short.

"Should we announce ourselves or...?" Scorpius asked, trailing off. He and Al looked at Rose.

Rose rolled her eyes. "C'mon you two, let's just go around them."

As the three walked around the edge of the battlefield, the fighters still oblivious to them, Al found himself unconsciously staring at Hazel Day. When he realised this of course, he whipped his head back around and stared resolutely at the snow, but his traitorous eyes once again wandered to the dark red curls of Hazel's hair.

It was rather spectacular, he mused. It reached just below her shoulder blades and was very curly – not bushy like Rose's, but full of ringlets. He wondered if they were natural, or if she styled them. The colour fascinated him too. Having grown up with a family made up of mostly redheads, red hair was not something new to Albus, but Hazel's hair was different. While Al's relatives had various shades of orangey, flaming red, Hazel's hair was a deep, dark, fiery red, like wine or carmine (sure, carmine wasn't a particularly nice substance to compare someone's hair too, but it just fit so perfectly).

She had nice skin too. It was pale – a little too pale perhaps – and had a normal amount moles and spots, but it looked very soft and a splattering of freckles arched across her nose.

Her eyes too. They –

"Al!"

Al jerked out of his wonderland. "Wha–"

_Snap_.

"OW!"

Albus walked headfirst into a protruding branch, getting smacked right in the face. "Merlin's saggy left –"

Rose coughed pointedly and Al lifted his hands from his face. Hazel and her companion had ceased-fire and were watching him with matching expressions of amusement.

Albus's face flushed. The companion started towards them, smiling, while Hazel followed, but lagged behind.

"Are you okay?" The brown-haired companion asked, eyes kind.

"Fine thanks," Albus replied, rubbing his cheek. Hazel came over, stopping just behind her friend and avoiding his eyes; Albus's stomach gave a funny little lurch.

"Be careful of the trees, Potter: they're out to get you." She smiled slightly, her tone light yet careful.

Al offered her a small smile in return. "I'll remember that."

They five descended into an awkward silence.

Rose decided to break it. "Zara, right?"

The brown-haired companion nodded and grinned. "Pulman. Nice to know people know my name. Of course, everyone knows your names, don't they Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter?"

Scorpius laughed.

"Anyway, it was lovely to chat to you lot, but we really must get going." Zara said, linking arms with Hazel and pulling her away. "Bye!" she called over her shoulder and waved as the two girls walked back to their snowball fight.

The trio watched them go for a moment, and then turned back down the hill and hurried towards the warm light of Hagrid's hut.

* * *

**A.N. Hello! So, in case any of you didn't know, the Serendipity Ask Blog - the thing I mentioned last chapter (if you missed that, go check out last chapter's AN) - is now up and running (well, it has been for a while)! There's been no asks yet, so you can be the first! Remember, anyone can ask a question, so go ask!**

**I feel really bad about all this self-advertising, but I felt you guys would like to know :)**

**With lots of love to all you wonderful people,**

**FlyAway**


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